Today was full of surprises. For one thing, we did not go to Young's Grocery! On every single trip we have made to the streets of Orlando, we have always stopped at Young's Grocery. When we drove by there today, no one was outside at the moment, so we passed it by and went straight to Right Fuel for The Glory of God gas station, to see our friend Charles. We opened the back end of my car and were able to share various items with many people. A lady named Stephanie, who has been drug free for 7 months, suggested we go to a different area where many of the street women hang out. So, we hopped in our car, and followed Ken and Stephanie to a different area.
Unbeknownst to us, Charles was taking us to perhaps the most run down neighborhood in all of Orlando. It was called the Tymberskan On the Lake conominium community. It is a community that is barely there! It is run-down, dilapidated, and mostly empty of occupants. But, Charles knows several people there and he was hoping we could minister to them. We did! These people were delightful, and happy to see us and receive the items we brought to them. This is one of the few times we have seen children. But, since these were actual residences, there were children living there.
Today was the only time I can remember handing out every single pillow we brought with us. The box was empty when we were finished. I wished I had counted them ahead of time, but there were close to 20 pillows in the box. Not everyone wants a pillow. We see a lot more people than the number of pillows we hand out.
We felt like we began to build relationships with these people and we look forward to partnering with Charles in an effort to share the gospel message with the people of Orlando. We have prayed for many months, that God would show us new places we can go to. He did that today. We drove away, invigorated by what God is doing, and how He is using us to love these people.
"And if you give yourself to the hungry
And satisfy the desire of the afflicted,
Then your light will rise in darkness.
And your gloom will become like midday."
Isaiah 58:10
In His Name,
Barbara